How am I really doing?

I’m not sure I know. Some days, I feel okay; other days, I feel indifferent. Some days, I feel giddy; and others days, I feel sad. Today, I feel blank, but the adulting show must go on! Many people around me said that January felt slow, but I didn’t share that sentiment. It seemed like a typical month where everything just unfolded as usual.

Once the initial excitement of the new year faded, things returned to normal, and work became busier. In January, I visited two places in Lagos and plan to share my reviews soon. I also attended three wedding events. One was for a friend’s sister, which spanned two weekends, and another was for a long-time secondary school friend. Overall, my January was quite packed with busy weekends, which is likely why it didn’t feel like a long month to me. I smashed my fitness goals, completed my 13k steps challenge for Mondays to Fridays and made it to the gym too. At the beginning of the month, I had broken down my 2025 vision board goals into actionable steps for January, and I completed nearly all of them except for one, which I moved to February.

Now, it’s February, the season of love. I usually post poems about love, and I’m unsure if I’m doing that this February, but you never know. I may wake up on February 13 or 14 and feel like writing something. 

I’ve been trying to cultivate old and new relationships; I’m even still exploring that as I hung out with an old friend last Saturday, and it was nice to catch up on life. I’m gradually settling into the new year and what that feels like in terms of all the pillars in my life, which include career, community, family, health and fitness, personal development, etc., and I’m conducting weekly check-ins to see if I’m a step closer to accomplishing everything I want to achieve.

I hope you’re doing well, and I hope you’re having your check-ins with yourself. I think it’s essential that you recognize your emotions and feelings and not hide them away. It’s very easy for you to put a block and project how you want to deal with things and how you want people to see you, and you start ignoring who you are and what you want out of your friendships and relationships, so you should find a balance. Make sure you are yourself at least 80% of the time if you can’t do 100% because doing anything less may be detrimental.

I’m just here surviving every day, taking things one step at a time, relying on myself, my learning ability, my exposure, and my faith, knowing that things will improve. I’m excited to finally pursue something I’ve wanted to do for a while, although I can’t share the details yet. I’m also looking forward to Ramadan, which is just a few weeks away. I appreciate Ramadan’s peace and calmness, and I can’t wait for it to begin.

This is goodbye for now. I might share another life update in the coming months, but this is where I am currently.

Please take care of yourself.

Mariam Shittu